Nagoya, JAPAN – Today Eiichiro Komatsu, assistant professor of astronomy at The University of Texas at Austin, will be presented the Young Astronomer Award by the Astronomical Society of Japan (ASJ) at a ceremony at the organization’s annual meeting at Nagoya University.

Komatsu will receive a medal, plaque, and $1000 prize for his work on constraining inflation models of the early universe. He is a member of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) team.

Komatsu recently received his PhD from Tohoku University in Japan, but did the majority of his research in residence at Princeton University, working with David Spergel. His advisor at Tohoku University was Toshifumi Futamase. Komatsu joined The University of Texas’ astronomy faculty in January.

The ASJ Young Astronomer award is similar to the American Astronomical Society’s Helen B. Warner Prize, Komatsu said. The awardee must be under 36 years old, and must have received his or her doctorate within the previous eight years. The ASJ presents up to three Young Astronomer awards each year. This year Komatsu shares the prize with one other awardee.